Below is a graphic developed by KISSmetrics outlining the evolution of web design since the world’s first website was launched in 1991.

In only 20 years the definition of a “web presence” has evolved to the point that today, many argue that traditional websites are becoming obsolete. When discussing the promotion of his new book, Guy Kawasaki recently suggested that he didn’t need a website to reach his target customers, but a Facebook page instead.

Static websites are a thing of the past and concepts like collaboration and crowd sourcing are becoming web standards. Of course, the evolution will continue and even these concepts will become old news (probably even faster than traditional web pages). The infographic below is a great reflection of where we’ve been in such a short period of time. One can only speculate what this chart will look like 20 years from today.

Scarily, some of those 90s webpages (and most of them usually were pages, rather than sites) are still around! Sadder still, some people still think that black backgrounds look good on the internet. My eyes bleed when I see a black background!

Personally, the idea of everything on Facebook and blogs as a web presence chills me, there’s no personality, and certainly no good web design either!

I agree, but what web 2.0 platforms lack in visual personality – they make up for through sharing, collaboration and the generation of debate. Perhaps customization will be a focal point for these platforms in the future.

[…] Web Evolution – A History of Web Design Over the Past 20 Years (via E-Marketing: Observations, Insights and Best Practices) Posted on 20 April, 2011 by Jarle Petterson Below is a graphic developed by KISSmetrics outlining the evolution of web design since the world’s first website was launched in 1991. In only 20 years the definition of a “web presence” has evolved to the point that today, many argue that traditional websites are becoming obsolete. When discussing the promotion of his new book, Guy Kawasaki recently suggested that he didn’t need a website to reach his target customers, but a Facebook page ins … Read More […]